Resistance
by Cat Samwise
Summary: AU. What if, rather than see their son die, James and Lily had agreed to serve Voldemort. More info inside. Will be continued when I find my notes g
1. I

**Title:** Resistance 1/10

**Author:** Cat Samwise

**Author email: **samwise@012.net.il 

**Category: **Drama/Angst/Dark

**Spoilers: **All books.

**Rating:** PG-13

**Pairings: **none.

**Summary:** AU. What if, rather than see their son die, James and Lily had agreed to serve Voldemort.

Fast-forward eleven years to a wizardying world with Lord Voldemort in charge and the resistance crumbling. James and Lily are alive and their son is a perfect little Death Eater. He's mean, he's a bigot, he's perfectly happy to torture and maim unworthy people.

But he also has to go to school. And here's where the trouble start…

**Disclaimer: **Characters and places in this story, which appear in the Harry Potter novels, belong to JK Rowling, Bloomsbury, Warner Bros. and Scholastic. I don't make, or intend to make money out of them. 

**Authors' Note: **This story was adopted as a plot bunny from Lisse. Thank you!

Warning: contains Evil!Harry, be wary. This is dark as dark can be.

I'm in the process of going over the story. I'm re-writing parts, polishing up others, and finishing it altogether J. I hope you enjoy this.

Chapter 1 – I

James stood on the lawn in front of his house. It was almost sundown, so everything was beginning to paint itself in darker colors. 

James' wife, Lily, and their son were inside. She was putting the toddler to sleep. James could hear the child's laughter. Harry always laughed when Lily read him one of his favorite stories.

James, usually, sat with them and chuckle softly with Harry. Lily was an excellent storyteller. She could make the dullest stories to the most interesting thing you've heard about in the world.

But tonight, he couldn't be with them. His senses were alert. He felt like a dog hearing a supersonic wail and not knowing what to do with it. Every bone in his body was screaming to him to transform into a stag and run. Run as fast as he could carry himself. 

He didn't. He was standing like a statue, looking, watching, hearing, listening…

His wife and child were in the house behind him, and there was no chance of him leaving them.

Besides, he wasn't a coward. He wasn't a Gryffindor for nothing.

The laughter in the house had died out. Lily must have finally managed to get the boy to sleep.

A light went on in one of the windows to his left, as it was quite dark now. James still didn't move.

In a few moments Lily would come looking for him. She'd reassure him. Tell him sweet things of love, safety and happiness and like always he'll believe her.

But for now, he stood in the now very dark yard and strained to catch something, anything. He needed to know, to be sure, that nothing would happen to his family.

The door behind him opened and he heard footsteps. A moment later Lily stood beside him.

She took his hand and squeezed it. He looked down at her and she smiled, a bit weakly, but it was still a smile.

"You feel it to, don't you?" his voice was less than a whisper, as if afraid to break the phenomenal silence of the night. 

Lily nodded and squeezed his hand again. "Let's get back in. It might be safer."

This time he was the one to nod. She let go of his hand and started walking back, but for some unknown reason she stopped and looked back.

The light expression on her face turned into that of pure horror and James needed only one look of the figure standing right in front of their lawn to know his worst fears came true.

"Lily, take Harry and go!" he cried to her taking out his wand in the blink of an eye. "It's him! Go! Run! I'll hold him off -"

He heard the sound of her stumbling towards the door, but the figure on the foot of their lawn was holding its wand up as well. The door to their house slammed shut with a very loud bang.

James heard Lily try to open the door, but to no use. The figure was a few feet away from him started to laugh, a high-pitched chuckle devoid of a marines. 

"I've got you now," the figure said, after it was finished laughing. "Look where your stubbornness led you. You will lose your son, your life, _everything_!"

While Voldemort talked, James clutched his wand, readying himself to the attack at hand. He knew Lily was doing the same, hardly listening to what the madman in front of them was saying.

That was why when Voldemort lifted his wand and shouted "_Accio!_" James and Lily were paralyzed with surprise and horror.

Their worst enemy was standing right in front of them, holding their son in one arm and his wand in the other, pointing it at Harry.

Lily screamed and stumbled forward. She fell to her knees at Voldemort's feet, crying.

"Not Harry!" she pleaded before James could stop her. "Not Harry! Please - I'll do anything -!"

"Stand aside," Voldemort barked, sneering. "Stand aside, girl!"

Lily was sobbing and crying, but she didn't move. The Dark Lord raised his wand to point at her and it was all James needed to make a decision.

James joined his wife at the feet of the Dark Lord. He might be brave and fearless, but when it came to his wife and son he would do anything in his powers to save them.

Voldemort looked at him with his deadly crimson eyes and then he started laughing again.

The sound of Voldemort's strange laughter woke the sleeping boy in his arms. The boy's forest green eyes looked at the stranger, but he made no move or sound. None of the three adults noticed this.

"Foolish man!" said Voldemort, towering over James and Lily, emphasizing his superiority over them. "And for this you will watch your wife die." Voldemort raised his wand again.

Lily was now crying silently, whispering, "not Harry, just not Harry." James was trying to think of something, anything to do to save them.

At that particular moment, Harry raised one small hand and tugged on Voldemort's robe. The Dark Lord looked down at him, hiding his surprise. Harry giggled when he saw the face of the person holding him. He started saying things in the incoherent baby language, smiling all the while.

A thought flashed through Lord Voldemort's mind and he smiled.

A little less than ten years later, summer 

"Potter, hey, Potter!"

"What?"

"You're mother's a mudblood!"

Harry snorted. "You're one to talk, your mother isn't even human."

'She's a vela, you dumbass. That makes her better than yours by - by a million!"

Harry smirked. "Nice going Malfoy. Very convincing too."

"Shut up, Potter," Draco glared.

"Yeah, right. My dad's better than yours. He's the Head of the Ministry!"

"No, he isn't! My dad's the Head of the Death Eaters, that makes him better than your dad!"

"Better at what? If he's Head Death Eater it only means he's good at torturing and that stuff, but for Head of the Ministry, you need a brain."

"That's not true! You _dream_ about being half of what my dad is!"

"I plan on being better."

"Keep planning."

They sat in silence for a while.

"You're parents were Gryffindors and so will you," Draco finally said, smugly.

"That's low, Malfoy, even for you."

"Ha! I won! I won!" Draco chuckled gleefully.

"No you didn't! That didn't count!"

"Yes, it did."

"No, it didn't!

"Yes, it -"

"Boys!" came a female voice from the house. "Boys, are you fighting?"

"No, Mum!" called Draco and the two boys fell silent.

"So…." Harry said finally.

"Yeah," agreed Draco. "This is boring."

"That's because you insisted on going to your house," commented Harry. "My house, on the other hand…"

"Oh shut it."

" Fine." 

They sat in silence, again, thinking about different things they might do.

"Hey, why won't your mum let us go to the attic?"

"They won't tell me, but I think it's because they have some torture devises, which they think I'm too young to handle."

Harry smirked. "Ever tried to sneak in?"

Draco looked scandalized. "But they said I shouldn't!"

"So?" Harry was unnerved by that comment. "They never said anything like that to _me_."

"They will if you ask them."

"So we don't ask them."

That thought had never occurred to Draco. He opened and closed his mouth several times.

"Think about how proud they would be if they found out that you managed to get past all the wards they must have put there," Harry knew exactly which buttons to push.

Draco's face shone with determination. "You're on."

"Knew you'll see things my way."

They got up from the grass they were sitting on and walked to the house.

They waved to Draco's mum and told her they were going to Draco's room and continued in the general direction, to fen off Narcisa.

"Listen, Draco," Harry said as they turned to go up a flight of stairs.

"What is it?"

"About what you said earlier," Harry's face was blank. He was a terrific actor and took great use of it. "Of me being sorted to Gryffindor."

"Look, you're my friend," answered Draco, a little annoyed. "I didn't mean it."

"No, it's not that, what if it really happened. Will you still be my friend?"

Draco snorted. "Probably not. I don't want a Gryffindor loser as a friend."

"Just checking."

"Don't get all remorse on me. You'll be sorted into Gryffindor over your parent's dead bodies."

Harry snorted. "Yeah, you're right. Forget I ever said that."

"Already did, mate."

About an hour later 

"Wow."

"You can say that again."

The two boys were sitting in Draco's room. Draco was staring into space and Harry was watching Draco.

"Wow."

"I didn't mean it literally."

"Wow."

"Oh come _on_! Draco, get _over_ it."

"But - but, did you _see_ that? No wonder they wouldn't let me go up there."

Harry smirked. "Aren't you glad I convinced you to go?"

Draco turned his dazed eyes to Harry. "What am I going to do now?"

Harry's eyes widened. "You're mental! Don't even think that! We stay very, very, _very_ quiet about it. Never even breath it to anyone."

Draco nodded, feeling dumb.

Harry exhaled in relief. "You got me going there, Malfoy. Probably the scariest moment of my life."

Draco looked surprised. "You weren't scared when you met the Dark Lord for the first time?"

Now, Harry felt superior. "Nope. Dad said I giggled," he bragged.

"Liar."

"Not!"


	2. Love

**Title:** Resistance 2/10

**Author:** Cat Samwise

**Author email: **samwise@012.net.il 

**Category: **Drama/Angst/Dark

**Keywords: **The Potters, The Malfoys, Voldemort, tertiary

**Spoilers: **All books.

**Rating:** PG-13

**Pairings: **none.

**Summary:** In which Harry and Draco go to Hogwarts, get sorted and get to know their housemates.

**Disclaimer: **Characters and places in this story, which appear in the Harry Potter novels, belong to JK Rowling, Bloomsbury, Warner Bros. and Scholastic. I don't make, or intend to make money out of them.

**Author's note: **was adopted as a plot bunny from Lisse. Here you go, two little bits with your request. Don't worry, will become bigger later on ;)

Credit: The Sorting Hat's song was written by greypiffle & I thank her very much for it. Thank you so very much!

Also, in this little thank you note go my two betas – Liat Av and Bree.****

Warning: If you're a Hufflepuff supporter – take heed! This contains sever Hufflepuff bashing. I don't feel like getting flames saying "Oh!!!! Why did you say that? You evil, evil person, Hufflepuffs aren't like that!" or anything of that sort (sorry people, never got flamed before, don't know how they go ::smiles weakly:: I really don't want to find out, though).

Also contains Death Eaters!James & Lily and Evil!Harry.

Has been re-done, I hope you enjoy it.

Chapter 2 – Love 

The Malfoys and the Potters were standing together at the front of the train station. The adults were smiling as their children talked excitedly among themselves and waved to others who passed by.

"Isn't it lovely how there are only real wizards here today?" Lucius commented.

"Yes, it is," nodded James. "It was awful how those filthy half-bloods and not to mention mudbloods ran around when we were here."

Lucius smiled. "Thank the Lord that our children don't have to suffer through that."

"I do," James' mask was perfect. "Every day."

They chuckled.

The women, in the meantime, were fusing over the two boys.

"C'mon Mum!" protested Harry. "It's going to be alright. Really! I won't die of hunger during the ride if I won't take the sandwich!"

Draco sniggered.

"What are you laughing about, young man?" Narcisa schooled her son. "You're taking one too."

"Mum!"

"No. No excuses. You're both taking them."

Both Harry and Draco sighed and rolled their eyes, knowing it was to no use.

At that moment a man brushed past Lily, almost knocking her off her feet. Harry caught her at the last moment.

"My goodness, Lily, are you alright?" Narcisa asked her friend, concerned.

"Yes, I'm fine. Thank you, Harry," she smiled at her son.

"No problem, Mum."

"Did you see who it was?" asked Narcisa.

"That was Peter Pettigrew, if I saw right," Lily glared in the direction he disappeared to.

"I don't see why you hate him so much," commented Narcisa calmly. "After all, it was thanks to him that you saw the right way at the end."

"Yes, but once a traitor, always a traitor, if you ask me," answered Lily. "I have a sneaking suspicion he'll betray us again."

"One can never be too cautious."

The boys listened to the conversation intently, finding these new details about their parents' co-worker fascinating.

A whistle sounded to signal to all the children they should get on board.

Narcisa and Lily kissed their children and Lucius and James patted them on their backs, wishing them a good year and telling them to have fun, in between all the schoolwork.

Once on the train, Harry and Draco found an empty compartment and made themselves comfortable. About ten minutes into the ride Gregory Goyle and Vincent Crabbe joined them.

The four of them played exploding snape through most of the ride since Gregory and Vincent were rather stupid and Harry and Draco couldn't discuss their own business in front of them.

The sweet cart, when it came, got Vincent and Gregory busy and away from the compartment.

"So, did your dad give you any last minute advice yesterday?" asked Harry.

The previous day, Harry was asked to leave early, before his parents came home, so he was very interested in hearing what happened.

"Oh, you know - 'You-Better-Be-In-Slytherin-Or-Else-!' speech," answered Draco. "Did yours tell you anything?"

"A weird We-Don't-Care-What-House-You-Get-Sorted-So-Long-As-You're-Happy. I never heard that one before."

Draco nodded. "Weird. Anyway, what do you think would be the worst option?"

"Hufflepuff," answered Harry.

"Really? Not Gryffindor?" Draco looked surprised.

"Of course!" Harry looked at him, surprised. "Hufflepuffs don't even have a spine and they're stupid. Only mudblood-lovers go there."

"You know, when you put it like that," Draco paused. "You're right, given the choice of Gryffindor or Hufflepuff, I'll choose Gryffindor too."

"Let's not talk about that," said Harry somberly. "It's depressing. Slytherin rocks and there's that."

Draco smiled and was about to reply but Vincent and Gregory came back and further conversation was impossible.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

_After pulling into the train station, on the platform_ *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"First years! First years over here!" called a rusty old voice. A man stood with a great torch to the side of the platform.

"That's us," whispered Draco and he, Harry, Vincent and Greory headed towards the man.

The man was short with dark hair and eyes. He looked intimidating, but neither Harry nor Draco were scared. After growing up with the top Death Eaters in your house, one found it hard to be frightened by common people.

"Everybody here?" barked the man. "Good. Now follow me."

The man led them through a narrow passage. It was very dark and Harry could hardly see the person in front of him. They walked in silence, except the occasional sneeze from someone towards the back.

"In a few moments you'll see Hogwarts!" called the man, not turning around. "Now, carefully, come here."

Sounds of astonishment came from all around Harry, but he was unimpressed.

Draco leaned close to him. "The castle near Dublin is way better," he whispered.

Harry nodded his agreement.

They were standing on the shore of a big black lake. On the other side, on top of a huge rock stood the castle, with its towers and big windows that tried to outshine the very stars.

"Four people a boat," ordered the man, gesturing to a whole fleet of small boats moving gently in the water. Draco, Harry and Gregory got in one, and when the man saw Vincent wanted to sit in their boat as well, he promptly stopped him and told him he should sit with him.

Draco and Harry exchanged amused smiles.

"Ready?" the man called after everyone were sited. "Then _forward_!'

The boats moved as one and glided across the smooth surface of the lake.

The rest of the ride was uneventful, except maybe when someone slipped on one of the stairs and glided all the way down and straight into the water. They had a good laugh over that.

Now, they stood in front of the great oak double doors that marked the entrance to the castle. The man knocked on them three times.

The doors opened and behind them stood a tall man. His robes were of dark purple. He looked like he was going to curse the lot of them on the spot.

"Professor Kashey, here are the first years," the man informed the professor.

"Thank you Radagast," the professor's tone suggested that his mere existence was unworthy of him. "I'll take them from here." Prof. Kashey led them to a side room from the apparent entrance hall.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," he said. "In a few moments the Beginning of the Year feast will start. But before you go and sit by the tables you are to be Sorted. As you all know, from the moment you get sorted and until you finish your education here, your house will be like a second family to you. You will eat, sleep, study and spend your free time with your fellow housemates. 

"During the year, you will be given points for academic achievements and other deeds, points will be deducted for any breaking of the rules. At the end of the year, the house with the most amount of points will win the House Cup.

"I do hope you will not be a complete disappointment to your house." The professor's eyes swept over someone at the back of the group.

"Probably the person who fell into the water," thought Harry, suppressing a snigger.

"Wait for me here," the man finished and went out of the room.

"So, it's good luck then," Draco smirked. "Pray you don't get into Gryffindor while you can."

Harry glared at him. "Not funny."

"I think it is," answered Draco.

"Real mature, Malfoy," Harry rolled his eyes.

"And anyway," continued Draco. "I have orders from my dad to be your friend no matter what house you'll be sorted into."

Harry raised an eyebrow. "You're kidding!"

"Nope. But if you get into Hufflepuff I can't promise you anything."

Harry chuckled. "Don't worry. If I get Hufflepuff _I_ won't stay friends with me."

They both laughed softly at that.

"Why do you think your dad told you that?" Harry asked finally.

"I don't know," Draco shrugged. "It'd be very weird if you and I won't be in the same house, though."

"Yeah." Harry's eyes looked around the room and stopped at a bunch of ghosts floating in the corner. "Pathetic."

"Hm, isn't it?" agreed Draco.

Prof. Kashey reappeared. He told them to form a line and follow him.

Harry stood in front of Draco and behind a redheaded boy. They went back to the entrance hall and through another set of doors. They were now in the Great Hall, as it was called. There were four long tables and another one behind them where the teachers sat.

The first years were led between the tables and ordered to stand alongside the stuff table, facing the students behind the four long tables.

On a stool, just in front of them stood an old wizardying hat. Everyone watched it intently and after a few moments a tear near the brim opened wide like a mouth, and the hat broke into song.

_You may not know that I have a brain.   
Given to me by four of fame.   
To sort you all where you belong.   
So listen now as I speak my song.   
  
                         Perhaps in Stubborn Gryffindor you belong.   
                         Where those of thick head and hide will throng.   
                         They WILL stick their noses where they are not needed.   
                         Though to the clever ones they have never heeded.   
  
Or maybe to plodding Hufflepuff you will be ceded.   
No matter much you would have pleaded.   
For there is where the thickheads go.   
There the hard work line to tow.   
  
                         Perhaps in Ravenclaw you belong I trow.   
                         Like any smart-alecky Jane or Joe.   
                         There you can study until you turn blue.   
                         And think you are squeaky and brand new.   
  
But Maybe clever Slytherin is just for you.   
Where the ambitious finds friends tried and true.   
There you can learn how to gleefully win all you can.   
They will show you how to develop a clever plan.   
  
                         So as you can see, if you would become a woman or man.   
                         Put me on your head, and sort you I can.   
                         Careful now, lest your courage begin to wane.   
                         Put me on and I will sort you all, just the same._

The moment the hat finished the Great Hall erupted with applause. The hat bowed to each table, its mouth disappeared and it fell silent.

Prof. Kashey made a step forward. He had a long roll of parchment in his hands.

"When I call out your name step forward, sit on the stool, put the Hat on and after it sorts you, you may join your housemates," he said. "And we start - Abott, Hanna."

A girl with white-blond hair stepped forward. Her face was red, either from nervousness or shyness, Harry couldn't tell. She put the Hat on and it slid down to cover not only her ears but also her eyes. A moment passed and then -

"_Hufflepuff_!" shouted the Hat.

Harry tuned the Sorting down in his head and concentrated on what his father told him the day before.

"I know everyone tells you that Slytherin is the best house there is," he had told him. "But, you have to know that the other ones are not so bad as well." Here he paused. "Especially Gryffindor."

Harry couldn't phantom what his father could mean by that. Surely he didn't want Harry to be in _Gryffindor_, or did he?

Harry's thoughts were brought to a halt as the professor said, "Malfoy, Draco!"

The Hall went silent for a moment and then Harry saw people cringing their necks to look at Draco as he gracefully put the Hat on his head and sat on the stool.

Even a moment didn't pass before the Hat shouted; "_Slytherin_!" and the table on the far left of the Hall erupted into cheers.

A few more names and it would be Harry's turn. He felt nervous. He really didn't know which house he wanted to be.

But he didn't have much time to decide, since Prof. Kashey called out his name.

He stepped out of the line, walked strait to the stool, put the Hat on and sat down.

It was very dark, since the Hat covered his eyes, and quiet. And then, he heard the Hat speak, just like his mother told him it would.

"Hmm," said the Hat. "Not easy, not easy at all. Lots of courage. A good mind, I see. Talent - yes, without a doubt. A nice thirst to prove yourself, and - oh my, your parents were Gryffindors, were they not?"

"Yes," thought Harry. He couldn't decide what the whole thing meant, but he thought he should play along.

"And play along you shall," the voice of he Sorting Hat chuckled in his ear. "You want to go in your parents' foot steps, don't you?"

"Very much so," answered Harry inside his head.

"Very well, there's only one place I could put you," and the next thing it said was a shout to the whole student body. "_Gryffindor_!"

Harry suppressed a groan, took the Hat off, put it on the stool and walked to the Gryffindor table.

He didn't notice the cheers and the claps on the back as he sat by the table. He couldn't believe he got sorted into Gryffindor, _Gryffindor_! He knew Draco was sneering without looking up.

A moment later the redheaded boy who stood in front of him during the sorting sat beside him.

"Hi," he said.

Harry groaned, put his elbows on the table and his head in his hands. "I can't _believe_ this!"

"Sorry," the boy backed away. "Didn't mean to upset you."

"You're the son of the Minister of Magic, aren't you?" another unwanted person joined the none existing conversation, this time it was a girl. She had shoulder length brown hair and brown eyes.

"Yes, I am," answered Harry shortly.

"Wanted you to be in Slytherin and when he finds out he'll kill you?" she continued with a carefree voice.

Harry looked up. "No, why did you assume that?"

She shrugged. "You looked like it's the end of the world."

"It is, I will never hear the end of it now."

"From who?" the redhead tried to participate in the conversation again.

Harry didn't answer. He couldn't have even if he wanted to. A man Harry knew as Severus Snape stood from a chair in the High table.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," he said facing the students. "Before we begin our feast, I want you all to stand in honor of our Lord."

Everyone stood and there was a complete silent throughout the Hall.

"And now, we can begin our feast," Severs sat down and so did everyone else. Food appeared on the tables.

At first, Harry tried to concentrate on eating. He regretted not eating his mum's sandwich on the ride. But the people around him took it as their personal task not to let him.

"So," said the girl in front of him. "Who is it that's going to taunt you 'cuase you're a Gryffindor?"

"Draco," Harry said without thinking.

"Malfoy?" the redhead almost chocked. "That sliming -"

"Will you shut up?" Harry had had enough. "We're clearly not talking to you and you're extremely lucky all the teachers are here, 'cause if they weren't your own mother wouldn't have recognized you after I was done."

"Boy, you _should_ be in Slytherin," said the girl, a little astonished.

"Tell me about it."

She sighed. "You know, you really shouldn't be mean to everyone because of something you have almost no control over. My name's Iris Leto, by the way."

"It's nice to meet you, Iris, I guess," said Harry. "And you know my name already, don't you?"

She laughed. "Yeah, I do."

"So, help me with the names of the teachers, will you?" asked Harry. "I only know Snape and that Kashey guy.'

"Oh, yes, Kashey is Head of Slytherin. He teaches Potions. To his right sits professor McKay, she teaches Herbology, Head of Hufflepuff. To _her_ right there's Agudista, Head of Ravenclaw, teaches Charms. On Snape's left side is Pavel; he teaches transfiguration and Head of our House. He's really nice, well at least sometimes. Professor Phaea, that's the one who sits on the far left side, teaches Dark Arts and I think that's it."

Harry nodded and then realized something. "Wait, you're not a first year, are you?"

Iris laughed. "No, I'm a second year, actually."

Harry continued to talk to her through the rest of the evening, and even speared the redhead, whose name was Ron Weasley, a few words. From the corner of his eyes, though, he noticed Draco glaring at him.


	3. You

**Title:** Resistance 3/10

**Author:** Cat Samwise

**Author email: **samwise@012.net.il  

**Category: **Drama/Angst/Dark

**Keywords: **The Potters, The Malfoys, Voldemort, tertiary

**Spoilers: **All books.

**Rating:** PG-13

**Pairings: **none.

**Chapter Summary:** In which Harry goes to his classes, gets to know Ron and talks to Draco.

**Disclaimer: **Characters and places in this story, which appear in the Harry Potter novels, belong to JK Rowling, Bloomsbury, Warner Bros. and Scholastic. I don't make, or intend to make money out of them. 

**Author's note: **Here you go, Lisse, Outside World Angst goodness ;)

This chapter had been revised, hopefully you enjoy it J.

Chapter 3 – You 

The next morning Harry woke up to find Ron Weasley shaking him.

"Wha - what do you want?" snapped Harry sleepily and rolled to his other side, facing away from the boy.

"We're the last ones here. Breakfast will start in a bit. I don't want to be late," answered the boy excitedly.

Harry groaned again but after some more persuading on Ron and his stomach's side he got up, got dressed and went down for breakfast.

"Oh, so you're friends now?" Iris beamed at the two of them as they took two seats in front of her.

"You have got to be kidding me," snorted Harry and tried to eat quietly.

"Well you are going to spend most of your time together and all," Iris looked at him pointedly.

"You said that last night. And besides, are you saying I'm not friendly enough?"

Iris shrugged.

"I'll prove it to you," said Harry. He turned to the girl sitting across from him, left from Iris. "Hi. Parvati, is it?" he smiled.

The girl's eyes went very wide in astonishment.

"Would you like to sit with me during History of Magic today?" Harry continued.

"Oh…" the girl looked completely stunned but she reclaimed her senses quickly enough. "Sure, yes, I'd love to - I mean." She then presided to tell anyone who would listen that _Harry Potter_ asked her to sit with him.

"I'm impressed," said Iris in a thoughtful look. "I didn't think you knew her name."

Before Harry could answer the mail arrived and most of Gryffindor table watched in astonishment as a beautiful eagle owl landed gracefully in front of Harry and put a package neatly near his plate.

Harry stroke the owl's feathers, let it nibble on some toast, and tied a note to its leg.

"I didn't know you had an owl," said Ron.

"Selena hates cages," answered Harry watching her fly away. "She probably flew after us in the train or stayed at my house until we arrived here."

"Oh."

"It's a very beautiful owl," said Iris.

"Thanks," said Harry. "Mum and Dad bought her for my 10th birthday."

"Cool, commented Ron looking dreamily at all the birds.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
_The same day  
_*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Parvati turned out to be a very annoying person, or so Harry thought. She kept asking him about his father, how much money they had and lots of other things Harry didn't even remember.

So he had no choice but to sit with Ron in all his other classes. He was surprised to find that he even liked it.

True, it wasn't as fun as sitting with Draco would have been, but it wasn't boring or irritating.

The two of them even found a mutual field of interest - Quidditch. The fact that Ron was a die-hard Chudley fan and Harry preferred the Wingtown Wanderers much more didn't really matter to them. After all, arguing is a form of conversation, isn't it?

Harry's most interesting lessons that day were Transfiguration and Charms. Prof. Agudista turned out to be a very nice lady, putting first impression aside. And since this was his mother's favorite magic, Harry understood it quite easily.

Prof. Pavel looked rather uneasy with the class and kept sending strange looks at Harry, the latter ignored them like he always did.

Harry also quickly found that he could do practically anything in front of the professor's nose and the only thing Pavel would do was look at Harry farsightedly. Harry found this very amusing and took great advantage of it.

At lunch, Iris was nowhere in sight and Harry had no choice but continue talking with Ron.

"So, how come I've never heard of your family?" Harry asked.

"Oh," Ron turned scarlet. "We aren't exactly - we aren't - you see, the thing is -"

"Your parents aren't Death Eaters?" Harry said, annoyed by the stutter.

Ron nodded, not looking in Harry's eyes.

"It's not that bad," said Harry thoughtfully.

"You don't mind?" Ron looked up hopefully.

"Of course I mind," Harry looked sternly at him. "I'll let it pass, though, if you never mention it again."

"What would happen if I do?" Ron's voice shook.

Harry looked him from head to toe. "Unforgivable."

Ron shut his mouth immediately and looked at his plate.

Harry smiled in satisfaction and turned to his plate as well.

"So, Potter," a voice drawled from behind him. Harry groaned. "Are your parents dead yet?"

Everyone in hearing range looked up at Draco who was smirking behind Harry's seat.

"What?" Harry looked as surprised as the lot of them.

"Oh, come on. I thought we agreed that you'll be sorted to Gryffindor over your parents' dead bodies."

"Oh," Harry rolled his eyes. "I thought you were better than that, Draco."

"And I thought you are better than _this_," Draco's hand gestured to the Gryffindor table. "I guess we're both wrong."

Draco turned to leave, but Harry called him back. "What about what your father said?" Most of the table was listening to their conversation now.

Draco raised an eyebrow. "I'll take care of that."

With that he was gone and the whole Gryffindor house jumped at Harry with questions.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
_Evening, after classes, Gryffindor tower  
_*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Have you heard?" whispered someone to another. "Sweden surrendered. They're part of the British Empire now."

"Really?" his companion's eyes grew wide. "Do you know what happened?"

"All I know," said the first one. "Is that the previous Minister of Magic is dead and a new one was appointed. They say that most of the resistance there was sent to Azkaban, so that the Dementors could take care of them."

The second one's eyes grew even wider. "You mean -"

The first one nodded.

"Oh," the second one appeared to be in shock. "I have an aunt in Sweden."

"You should owl her. I hope she's still there."

"You and me both."

Just then Harry and Ron climbed through the portrait hole and entered the common room. They appeared to be arguing.

"You really shouldn't have done that," said Harry.

"He was being obnoxious. I couldn't help myself," Ron tried to defend himself.

"I act exactly like him, I don't see you trying to hex me."

"You know the Unforgivable," mumbled Ron.

"What makes you think he doesn't?" Ron paled considerably.

"I - he - oh."

"Exactly. Now don't you dare doing that again."

"I won't."

"Harry, Harry!" called one of the boys he shared his room with. "Have you heard about Sweden?"

Harry gave him a cold look. "Of course I did. Dad owled me this morning."

"What do you think about it?" asked the boy again. Harry recalled his name to be Nathan.

"They should have used more Cruciatus," Harry said flatly. Nathan looked surprised.

"Why?"

"Less people would resist, seeing their loved ones in such pain."

"You would really do that?" the boy asked in awe.

"Of course he would," Ron stepped in. "It's the right thing to do."

He looked like he was defending Harry, but the latter knew it was only a way to win 'points' with him, in hope to survive the next seven years.

Harry smirked nevertheless to show his classmates off.

"I guess you know best," said Nathan.

"I do," said Harry and considering the conversation to be over he turned to Ron. "Come on, I want to change before we go this evening."

"Where are you going?" asked Nathan, but he was ignored.

After Ron and Harry entered the first years' dormitory, Harry plopped down on his bed and Ron sat on the edge of his own.

"Why did you tell him we're going somewhere today?"

"Just to make him mad," said Harry. "He really annoys me."

"Everyone annoys you," commented Ron.

"Well, you're all Gryffindors."

"So are you."

"I'm tremendously annoyed with myself as well, if that makes you feel better."

Ron shrugged. "Anyway, what are we going to do today?"

"You meant 'tonight'."

"Yes."

"I dunno, I'm tired."

"We could do homework."

Harry sat up, transfigurated his dresser into a table, put a vase full of lilies on top of it and made it all disappear. "Done." And he plopped back down on his back.

Ron looked at the dresser in stunned silence for a few moments and then turned to Harry. "That's very advanced! How did you do that?"

"My mum and dad have been teaching me magic since I was six," snorted Harry.

"But that's illegal!"

"Laws are for other people, especially if your father is the Minister of Magic," said Harry off handedly.

Ron gapped at him for a few moments. "Could you - would you teach me?" he asked finally.

Harry propped himself on his elbows and looked at Ron. "Do you really want to learn?" he asked. "'Cause I know spells _Malfoy_ never dreamed of."

"Really?" Ron's eyes sparkled. "How?"

"Let's just say, I'm brave enough to stick my nose in places it shouldn't be," Harry smirked.

"Cool," was the only thing Ron managed to say.


	4. But

**Title:** Resistance 4/10

**Author:** Cat Samwise

**Author email: **samwise@012.net.il  

**House: **The Dark Arts

**Category: **Drama/Angst/Dark

**Keywords: **The Potters, The Malfoys, Voldemort, tertiary

**Spoilers: **All four books.

**Rating:** PG-13

**Pairings:** none.

**Summary:** In which we take a closer look at James and Lily. Prefect, loyal Death Eaters, are they?

Or other wise known as and the plot begins.

**Disclaimer: **Characters and places in this story, which appear in the Harry Potter novels, belong to JK Rowling, Bloomsbury, Warner Bros. and Scholastic. I don't make, or intend to make money out of them. 

**Author's note: **This chapter had been throughoutly revised, I hope you enjoy it.

Chapter 4 – But 

"Did you read Harry's letter?" Lily was sitting on a couch in the living room of Potter Manor.

James had just walked into the room, holding a stack of parchments in his arms. He put it on the coffee table and sat next to his wife.

"No, what does it say?" he asked, wandering why she brought it up.

"He's in Gryffindor,' she said shortly.

"Oh, thank the Havens," James exhaled.

'Don't say that," Lily whispered. "What are we going to do now? You remember what we promised."

"Of course I do," James didn't look at her. "But it's not our fault. You know as well as I do that no one could buy that Hat off. Sure, they made him sing those songs, but untruthful sorting? Never."

Lily sighed. "But he will turn to us, say it is our fault, that _we_ didn't teach him rightly."

"And then what?" James stood up and started pacing in front of her.

"He can't threaten us with Harry anymore. The boy made a decision and Voldemort knows it very well."

"But what shall we do?" Lily looked desperate. "This is killing us both. Watching him grow up like that. Feed him lies _we_ don't even believe in. Goodness, I don't even remember what we told him about my family."

"He knows you're muggle-born," James said quietly.

"Yes, but he hates it, he's ashamed of me. James, he's _ashamed_!"

James sat next to her and took her in his arms. "There's nothing we can do."

"We could turn spy," she whispered.

James laughed. "How long were you thinking about that?"

"A while."

"You know it's absolutely impossible, right?"

"Of course."

"Just checking."

Lily shifted in his arms to look him in the face and kissed him. "I better go get ready. You do remember the Gathering at Malfoy Manor, don't you?"

"Yes, of course. I'll just go through these things and we'll go."

She nodded and got up, going to their room. "I love you."

"Love you too," came the reply.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

_Later that evening, Malfoy Manor_

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"I may congratulate you, Narcissa," said Lily with a smile.

"Yes, thank you," the woman returned with a smile on her own. "I'm dreadfully sorry for you, though, it must be awful."

"Yes, he's taking it quite hard, I'm afraid. But as I see it, things could have been worse."

"Yes, it could," Narcissa shook her head. "I just hope all those filthy mudblood-lovers won't spin his head in the wrong direction."

Lily shook her head. "I don't even want to think about that."

"Oh, I'm so sorry, darling. I didn't mean to upset you."

"It's quite alright," Lily averted her eyes to the door. "James and I would make sure he wouldn't go astray."

"Lucius and I will be here whenever you need us," Narcissa assured her.

Lily smiled. "Thank you. I'm so afraid of doing this on my own."

The two women were sitting in a room on the second floor of the Manor. It wasn't very big but it was very airy as there were two large windows over looking the gardens. It was a room only Narcissa's closest friends saw and Lily always felt very proud of herself while sitting there.

The men had their own discussion downstairs in the big dining room.

It was the Monthly Gathering of Death Eaters. A way for the Dark Lord to honor one of his servants - announcing the Gathering would take place in that person's house. The last one had been in Potter Manor. Lily remembered how delighted Harry had been when James came home with those news. He kept bragging about it to everyone he knew, especially Draco.

Essentially, during the Gathering all the Death Eaters gave reports to the Dark Lord about the movement of forces, the tasks taken care of - a very dual business. What made the Gatherings so special was that usually, the wife of the honored Death Eater would throw a feast or a party of some sort and it would turn into a great social event.

This time, seeing as the children were in Hogwarts, Narcissa announced she wasn't feeling up to the task because of a medical condition and would not hold any kind of celebrations during the day. But she offered to throw the Christmas feast at their house as a compensation. She was Lucius' wife, and therefore had been allowed to do so.

That was the reason it were only the two of them in the room, the men being busy with their reports and no other Being, excluding the House Elves, in the house.

Narcissa leaned back in her armchair. "Oh, thank the Lord, they allowed me this time off. I hate these parties so much."

"I know what you mean. You remember my state after last month."

"Yes, I can't believe Martha would say such a thing. And questioning the Dark Lord's motions!"

"I was so proud of Harry," Lily smiled at the memory. Narcissa laughed.

"Oh, yes, I remember the looks on their faces when he came up to her, held out his wand and preformed Cruciatus." Lily brushed away a tear. "If the Dark Lord would hold the Gathering in the same place two times in a row, we'd be sitting in your house today."

Both women giggled.

"Yes, that would be lovely," commented Lily.

"Did you see the look on Alexandra and Oleg McNair's faces? I thought they'll perish from envy when our Lord put his hand on Harry's shoulder and said he would make a good Death Eater some day."

At this point both women were laughing.

"I remember Draco begging Lucius to teach him that curse days afterwards," continued Narcissa. "He was so angry when Lucius kept saying 'no'. How _did_ he learn it?"

"You know how Harry is, always looking around in places he shouldn't. Probably found a book about it in the Library."

Narcissa nodded, her eyes twinkling in mirth. "I should leave more books like that lying around. Maybe Draco'll take a hint."

They laughed some more.

"When do you think they'll be done?" Lily asked suddenly.

"I don't know, an hour or two more," said Narcissa thoughtfully. "Why? Am I that bad a company?"

Lily smiled. "No, of course not. It's just that I'm waiting for an owl from Harry and I don't want to receive it with everyone around."

Narcissa nodded knowingly. "I understand, but there's not much to do about it, is there?"

Lily sighed.

"Oh, come on!" said Narcissa suddenly, jumping to her feet. "We can't have this bad mood all around. We aren't in a party! Let's go to the kitchens, see what we can make the House Elves do."

Lily smiled and followed her friend.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

A month or so later 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"You have noticed sabotages in our operations" the Dark Lord was standing in the middle of a large circle. These were his elite. The top of the top of his Death Eaters.

Voldemort was currently questioning James Potter, Minister of Magic. At first, he had been watchful for betrayal from that particular party, but as the years passed by, James became his second most loyal servant. He didn't dwell upon the reason for this, it didn't matter.

"Yes, my Lord," James' answers were to the point, as was expected from him.

"Why do you believe so?" Voldemort's eyes passed over his Death Eaters, most of them shivered.

"There have been misshapes which only lead to this conclusion, Master."

"Such as?" the Dark Lord drilled on.

"Our allay in Paris hasn't contacted us in over a month. The party we sent to the Netherlands last month has not returned or contacted. The Russian side is uncharacteristically quiet and uncooperative."

"This is a sign of treason, how?"

"Only those who are present in this room know of them, my Lord, some of them were controlled by me personally."

"So there's a mole." Voldemort walked around the circle of men in front of him. "Do you have any suspicions, Potter?"

"Not as of yet," James kneeled in front of the Dark Lord. "The reports came in yesterday evening and I received them today just before arriving here. I only had time to read through them once."

"And you came upon this conclusion?"

"It was the most logical one, my Lord."

"Unfortunately." Voldemort looked down as James. "Get up."

James did as he was told. When he stood, he stood proud and held the Dark Lord's gaze longer than anyone had ever dared to before.

"You are to investigate in the matter," said Voldemort.

James nodded and the Death Eaters continued discussing other matters.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Some other time, some other place 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"You came."

 "I was curios."

"You don't trust me."

"You're a Death Eater, of course I don't trust you."

"I guess I deserve that."

"You deserve more than that. You deserve prison, you deserve The Kiss."

The two figures were standing in an ally, dark, unplotable, magically hidden alley.

"You don't understand. We had no choice, not me, nor him."

"We're not here to talk about him."

"But it concerns him too, although he really believes in the Dark Lord's ways."

"And now you're afraid to say your master's name?" the figure laughed, somewhat bitterly.

"There's more than that," said the figure quietly. "If I say his name he will know it and then we're both doomed."

"Unlike right now where our future is bright and shiny."

"Don't be sarcastic on me," the figure hissed. " I came here -"

"At great personal risk," mimicked the other figure. "Yes, I know, you already told me that."

"Listen, I'm sorry -"

The other figure interrupted him again. "Don't give me your half-assed excuses. What you did was unforgivable. Two of my best friends, no less! I trusted you, goddamn it. We could have helped you."

"No, you couldn't," said the other figure quietly.

The first figure glared at the second, but it was lost because of the hood drawn over the figure's face.

"Let's talk business then," one of them finally said.

"Alright," nodded the other. "They are forming an expedition to Russia."

"Another one?"

"Yes, the others weren't as successful as we hoped, and the Dark Lord wants us to try again."

The first figure nodded to show it was interested.

"There's a man in Paris, he goes by the name J.K. Collins, he's an allay of the Lord."

The other nodded.

"There's a castle in Dublin the Lord likes to stay over often. If you want to take him over, you could take over at the castle."

"I think it's too early for that, don't you?"

The figure shook its head. "I was hoping it wasn't."

"You're one of the top Death Eaters and you don't know how bad it is for the resistance?"

"Sometimes one overlooks the things one doesn't want to know."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

A Death Eater Gathering 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Voldemort stood, like always in the middle of his circle of Death Eaters, regarding them all. His gaze halted on one of them. He smiled.

"It's time, I think," the Dark Lord said. "That you, James Potter, will learn how we deal with traitors."


	5. You

**Title:** Resistance 5/10

**Author:** Cat Samwise

**Author email: **samwise@012.net.il 

**House: **The Dark Arts

**Category: **Drama/Angst/Dark

**Keywords: **The Potters, The Malfoys, Voldemort, tertiary

**Spoilers: **All four books.

**Rating:** PG-13

**Pairings:** none.

**Summary:** In which Harry gives Ron a lesson and Draco and Harry have a chat.

**Disclaimer: **Characters and places in this story, which appear in the Harry Potter novels, belong to JK Rowling, Bloomsbury, Warner Bros. and Scholastic. I don't make, or intend to make money out of them. 

**Author's note: **

Sorry for the long wait, I'm kind of loosing interest with this story, but I promise (promise, promise, _promise_) to post all ten planned chapters.

You _could_ encourage me, you know ;)

If you want to read updates about this story go to http://www.deadjournal.com/users/cat_samwise/

Chapter 5 – You 

In the few weeks after Harry and Ron's conversation, matters in Hogwarts fell into a routine.

During the day, Harry and Ron went to their classes and did their homework. They even spent an hour in the library each day. Bur after dinner, they would sneak into a disused classroom in one of Hogwarts' towers and Harry would teach Ron advanced magic.

Like this particular evening.

Harry and Ron were in a classroom in the Northern Tower. They didn't know what the tower was used for, as they saw elder students go in its direction during they day, but they really didn't care. There was no one there at the moment and that what was important.

Harry was teaching Ron a simple mind control spell, or at least, he was trying to.

"I don't get it!" exclaimed Ron after his tenth attempt. "What am I supposed to think about? Why am I supposed to think about it at all?"

Harry sighed. "Alright, from the beginning. "We're trying to modify the cat's personality right?"

"Yes," Ron answered a bit shakily, glancing at Mrs. Norris.

For the purpose of this particular lesson, Harry had sought out the cat, caught her and now she was standing between Ron and Harry. She appeared to be quivering.

"What are we trying to do?" Harry's tone was careless.

"We want her to mewl at the students."

"Exactly. Now, does she do that?"

Ron snorted. "No."

"Alright. How is she going to know she's supposed to mewl if you don't tell her?"

Ron looked at Harry questionably. He then turned to the cat. "Mewl."

Mrs. Norris did, or at least attempted to. 

Harry started laughing. Ron watched in amazement. "Did it work?"

"No," Harry chocked out, still laughing. "She's so scared, she obeys you."

Ron continued to watch in amazement.

Harry calmed down and they continued the lesson. "You have to think what you want her to do while you're performing the spell. You have to be very specific. If you just say 'mewl' she'll do it all the time and won't be able to drink, eat, sleep or even breath and this way, she'll die. We don't want that."

Ron nodded in understanding. "So how do I say it?"

"Like I said, you have to be very clear. I can't tell you what to say, because if you'll have to use this curse on your own there won't be anyone to tell you what to say."

"You sound like a bloody book."

Harry blushed. "I'm actually resisting it."

Ron snorted. Harry glared.

"Fine, fine," said Ron. "How about 'mewl whenever you see a student'."

"And what happens if she walks into the Great Hall? There'll be hundreds of students there, she'll have to mewl once for each one."

Ron laughed. "That'd be a sight."

"Yes, it would," Harry agreed, smiling. "But it won't work."

Ron thought for a moment. "How about 'you can mewl whenever you see one or more students'?"

"First of all, that means she can only mewl when she sees a student and second, she can choose whether to mewl or not. You said 'can', after all."

Ron nodded. "Alright. What about 'whenever you see a student, two or a group of students you are to mewl, at least once'?"

Harry pondered this for a moment. "Yes, that seems about right."

Ron grinned.

"Now the spell."

"What about it?"

"First there's pronunciation."

Ron waved his hand. "I know that!"

"Let's hear it then."

"Alright. _Adcectio Mecies_."

Harry nodded. "Good. Now the hand movement."

"What about that?"

"Let's see it."

Ron lifted his arm and did the needed movements.

"No. You have to turn your wrist to the left and only _then_ to the right. Not the other way around. Try again."

Ron did.

"OK, that's good. But I want you to try it several more times."

"Are you sure this would work?" Ron asked.

"Of course," answered Harry with a smile. "Why do you think Selena puts my packages carefully and doesn't drop them like all the other owls?"

"Um, Harry?" Ron asked tenably, after a few more gesture tries.

"What is it?"

"Does this spell work on humans?"

"Yes, of course. Why did you ask?"

"Well, you only tried, or going to try, in our case, on animals. I just wanted to know."

"First of all it's rather illegal to use it," said Harry.

"I thought rules were for other people," said Ron cheekily.

"And second," Harry glared. "Who are we going to try it on? It's not like we can _catch_ anyone here."

Ron shrugged.

"Did you get the movements?" Harry went back to instruction mode.

"Yes, I think so."

"Good. Now try to do the movements at the same time as you say the spell. Try not to think about anything and point at that chair."

Ron did as he was told.

"Your timing is a bit off. Try again and this time you have to point your wand at the chair at the same moment as you finish saying the incantation."

Ron tried again.

Harry nodded. "That's right. Do it a couple more times until your mind is completely blank when you perform the spell."

And thus the preparations were over.

"It's time for you to try it our," said Harry. Ron turned to face Mrs. Norris.

The cat tried to shrink back so the spell might miss her, but to no luck.

Ron raised his wand and shouted "_Adcectio Meacies_" and a moment later a shock of yellow light broke free from Ron's wand and hit Mrs. Norris.

After the light cleared the two boys saw the cat. She immediately mewled.

Both of them laughed.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
The Next Day  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"So, what are you two up to today?" asked Iris.

"What can you possibly mean?" answered Harry in an innocent voice.

"Oh, you can't fool me!" laughed Iris. "Something's been happening here for weeks and it's _always_ your doing."

"Not always," said Ron in between mouthfuls. "That thing with professor Phaea was not out fault."

"Yes, how could we possibly know he's allergic to frogs?" Harry defended himself.

Iris laughed. "Yes, you're right. You couldn't _possibly_ know that."

"Anyone could have missed on the fact he won't stay in the same room with Neville," said Ron.

"Yeah, well –" Harry was just about to say that it was difficult to know weather the professor was allergic to the toad and not Neville himself when Mr. Filch, the caretaker, and his cat entered the Great Hall.

No body would have paid it much attention if Mrs. Norris didn't start mewling loudly.

"Mrs. Norris?!" Filch cried in astonishment and betrayal.

Mrs. Norris gave him what seamed like an apologetically look, turned to glare at the students and started mewling again.

"Is this your idea for a joke?" Iris hissed at Ron and Harry. "He's going to have your head for that."

"He'll have to proved it first," answered Harry.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
During Lunch  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"So, she mewled at me! Can you believe it?" Nathan was telling Ron, Harry and Iris. "Whoever did that was a genius!"

"I doubt that," said Iris darkly, though she sneaked a wink to Ron and Harry. "Probably very stupid. They'll be caught in no time."

"I'm not sure about _that_," said Nathan. "Filch won't let anyone touch that cat. He says she's been cursed, but the teachers say there's no one in this school that can perform this kind of spell." Then he grinned. "Or, they have no courage to talk to them."

Harry smirked and Ron was about to comment something when someone cleared their throat behind Harry's chair.

The four students turned and found Draco standing in front of them with his arms crossed.

"I need to talk to you, Potter," he said.

Harry nodded. "When?"

"Tonight, after classes."

Harry glanced at Ron. "Sure."

"Meet me here after Dinner then."

Harry nodded again and Draco went away.

"Why are you meeting him?" asked Ron.

"He's my best friend," answered Harry. "You know that already."

"Doesn't seam so best friendish to me," commented Iris.

Harry shrugged. "It's complicated."

"Make it simple," Iris suggested. 

"Fine," said Harry, annoyed. "When we grew up, our parents spent lots of time together and inevitably we did to. And besides, we were the only ones who actually possessed brains." Iris lifted an eyebrow. "Oh, come on. Didn't you notice the Slytherins?" Pansy, Blaise, _Vincent_, **Gregory**?"

"He's got a point," Ron nodded, a bit reluctantly.

"Fine, if you say so." Iris gave up.

"What do you think you're going to talk about?" asked Nathan.

Harry shrugged. "How should I know?"

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
After Dinner  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Harry and Draco were walking through a deserted corridor. Neither said a word since they met and the silence was quite heavy.

Harry was hoping he hadn't lost his best friend because of this stupid house rivalry, so he didn't dare speak first.

"We're here," said Draco so suddenly that Harry jumped.

"We're where?" asked Harry, feeling stupid.

"There," answered Draco. "Now let's get in."

They entered a chamber. It was probably located deep in the heart of Hogwarts and near the dungeons, considering it took them approximately fifteen minutes to get there.

The room itself was practically bare, except for a couple of chairs and a table standing in the exact center.

"Sit," said Draco and Harry did as he was told.

"So, what's this all about?" asked Harry after Draco sat across from him and leaned on the table.

"This," Draco said seriously. "Is about what we saw in my attic."

Harry sat up immediately. "You're kidding!"

"No," said Draco, who was still acting cold and superior, but his eyes were gleaming mischievously.

"Did he tell you?"

"Yes, he said we are in a perfect position to attack."

""I knew it!" exclaimed Harry, jumping from his seat.

"What are you talking about?" Draco was obviously startled by this exclamation. "You knew what?"

"They all knew I'm going to be sorted in Gryffindor, even your father!"

"That can't be possible," Draco dismissed it. "How could they know?"

"I have no idea, but they did. My parents told me not to be disappointed if I didn't get what I wanted, and now your father says _we_ are in a perfect position to strike? It sounds fishy to me."

Draco shrugged. "Coincidence. Besides, you always see things that aren't there.

"And you can't see what's right under your nose. Remember when your house elves fell in love and you didn't believe me until one of them started eating all your food and you found out she was pregnant?"

"Yes, OK, whatever," Draco was clearly annoyed.

"Fine," said Harry, reading his friend like an open book. "What did your dad say about the attic?"

"Oh, that's a very interesting story," Draco's eyes were gleaming again. "You've got to hear this."

"I'm listening."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
Some time later  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"So, that's done," said Harry bending over the parchments Draco had produced earlier. "Only thing that's missing is our cover."

"What cover?" asked Draco.

"Oh, come on, did you really expect to get away from school for more than a day and no body noticing?"

"Mm."

"Exactly. So what do you think we can use?"

"I don't know," Draco looked thoughtful. "We could use that tag-along of yours, if he can spin a tale, that is."

Harry looked at him for a moment. "I don't trust him much, that red hair I suppose, bust for now I guess he'll do."

Draco nodded. "What will you tell him?"

"I don't know. But we've got time. I'll come up with something."

"Hey," Draco looked at Harry quizzically. "I heard a rumor saying you teach that twat Dark Magic."

Harry returned the stare. "I was bored."

"But, but you wouldn't teach _me_ that!" 

"In our house. Do you imagine what my mum would have done to me if she knew?"

"And she won't find out here?" Draco asked darkly.

"Of course not," said Harry. "They don't expect students to know such things, so they don't put up wards."

"Really?" now Draco looked surprised.

"Really," answered Harry and got up. "Listen, it's late, I need to get back."

"Oh, is it past your bed time already?" teased Draco.

"No, but it's past your."

Draco glared and Harry laughed.

"Good try." Draco got up from his chair. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yes," Draco nodded. "We need to clear out some details."

Harry nodded. "Good night, then."

"Good night."


End file.
